Chef Gaggan Anand says he won’t open a restaurant in India

Instead, the chef will set up one restaurant each year, with a young chef from his team

Asia’s best chef, Gaggan Anand – known for his eponymous Bangkok restaurant (rated no 23 in the world and no 1 in Asia) – has permanently dropped plans of setting up a restaurant in India. “I am too focussed on my kitchen in Bangkok. Instead of putting all my energy into other things, I want to put that energy back into my restaurant, Gaggan,” says Anand, who was in the city for a one-day only pop-up at Taj Lands End in Bandra.

Early last year, there were rumours that the Kolkata-born chef will be setting up an outlet in Mumbai with journalist-turned-chef Garima Arora. However, now the duo is all set to launch Ga, which stands for Garima, at a location close to Gaggan in Bangkok. “It is Garima’s concept of Noma’s (where she trained before joining Gaggan) philosophy and play on Indian food,” says Anand. Each year, the chef plans to open one restaurant with a young member of his team. “I am going to invest in their talent and name the restaurant after them,” he adds.